Why 21?

Why 21?

More than 25,000 lives have been saved in the U.S. thanks to the 21 Minimum Legal Drinking Age. This law continues to prevent tragedies — decreasing crashes by an estimated 16 percent and keeping young people safer from many risks.

Sometimes, without knowing all the facts, people assert that youth shouldn’t have to wait until they’re 21 to drink. James C. Fell, a public health researcher at the Pacific Institute for Research & Evaluation, responds to their questions.

Why do we make young people wait until 21 to drink alcohol?

Of Index m b staff bisci4online mbt102 Many activities have ages of initiation. A person must wait until age 16 to start driving, age 18 to marry without parental consent, age 35 to become president and so on.

The age limit for alcohol is based on research which shows that young people react differently to alcohol. Teens get drunk twice as fast as adults,Of Index m b staff bisci4online mbt102 9 but have more trouble knowing when to stop. Teens naturally overdo it and binge more often than adults.

Can’t parents teach their teens how to drink alcohol responsibly by giving them small amounts—under supervision—before they reach 21?

Some states permit parents to do this with their own child (rarely, if ever, with someone else’s child), but there’s no evidence that this approach actually works.3 As matter of fact, there is evidence to contrary. When teens feel they have their parents’ approval to drink, they do it more and more often when they are not with their parents. When parents have concrete, enforced rules about alcohol, young people binge drink less.

Would lowering the legal drinking age make alcohol less of a big deal, and less attractive to teens?

History says no. When states had lower legal drinking ages in the U.S., the underage drinking problem was worse.Of Index m b staff bisci4online mbt102 3 For example, before the 21 minimum legal drinking age was implemented by all states, underage drunk drivers were involved in over twice as many fatal traffic crashes as today.3

Of Index m b staff bisci4online mbt102 Some people propose a 40-hour alcohol education course for teens that would entitle teens to drink before 21. Is this a good idea?

Research shows that education alone doesn’t prevent risky behaviors. For example, driver education by itself does not reduce youth car crashes. Beginning drivers need other restrictions in place, such as curfews and passenger limits, to stay safe. In addition, there are clear health risks associated with underage drinking.7,14